Andrew Miller called on the Foreign Secretary after he found the lack of information surrounding the disposal “appalling.”

He said hundreds of constituents have written to him with concerns about the disposal and asked why the Government had failed to keep him fully informed about the contract with Veolia.

After Foreign Secretary William Hague offered his apologies, Mr Miller met with Philip Dunne MP – parliamentary under secretary of state at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) – as well as expert scientists from the MoD and Environment Agency to discuss the situation and ask questions about the nature of the contract.

Mr Miller said: “It is unfortunate that the Government failed to engage with the local community but I am grateful for the apology from William Hague and the subsequent actions he took.

“I am now confident that there are no actual ‘chemical weapons’ coming to the site in Ellesmere Port and the materials in transit present no greater hazard than the normal day to day work undertaken by Veolia Environment Services, and are much like the chemicals emanating from civilian sources routinely destroyed at the plant.”

In a recent article, a Veolia company spokesman told the Globe that the substances – known as B precursors - are routinely used in the pharmaceutical industry in the UK and are “similar in nature” to standard industrial materials “safely processed on a regular basis” at Ellesmere Port.

The Foreign Office has assured people that the chemicals – which are heading to the UK after Syrian President Assad agreed to dismantle his regime’s weapons stockpile – would only become toxic if mixed with A precursors. These are being removed from Syria separately.

Judging from the majority of comments on the petition site (and benny07's above), it seems to me that these particular chemicals are just serving as a 'catalyst' to the entire principle of dealing with hazardous chemicals on Wirral.

The same could be said for Shell, ICI and all the other sundry industries in that area.

I don't know how many Wirral people work in these plants but I bet the Job Centres would be a lot busier without them.

Judging from the majority of comments on the petition site (and benny07's above), it seems to me that these particular chemicals are just serving as a 'catalyst' to the entire principle of dealing with hazardous chemicals on Wirral.
The same could be said for Shell, ICI and all the other sundry industries in that area.
I don't know how many Wirral people work in these plants but I bet the Job Centres would be a lot busier without them.JohnON

If I'm right about what they're destroying, it's basically just an incredibly nasty sheep dip unless they pour water or booze on it. Being trained chemists, I suspect they have the sense not to pour water or booze on it.

If I'm right about what they're destroying, it's basically just an incredibly nasty sheep dip unless they pour water or booze on it. Being trained chemists, I suspect they have the sense not to pour water or booze on it.naughtykitties